Blue Jay Point County Park and Blue Jay Education Center

About this adventure

A 236-acre park on Falls Lake in north Raleigh focused on environmental education. The Blue Jay Education Center has an exhibit hall about water — the water cycle, the Neuse River basin, the Falls Lake watershed and Raleigh's drinking water — plus exhibits on threats to the environment, and serves as the base for the park's nature programs; a wildlife habitat garden and pond next to it work as an outdoor classroom. Kids can play on the playground opened in April 2021, with structures for ages 2–5 and 2–12, swings and shaded picnic tables, and run on the open play fields. There are five miles of trails, including the half-mile Azalea Loop with a seasonal interpretive guide for 18 numbered posts, and a section of the Falls Lake Trail that joins the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Older kids (10 and up, at least 55 inches tall) can book Go Ape's treetop courses in the park. Parts of the park are closed for bond-funded construction.